home > history > Jews in Belgium prior to WWII

 

The Numbers  

Before the outbreak of war in 1939 there were estimated to be 16.000.000 Jews, worldwide.

The exact number of Jews living in Belgium is not known. However the card index registration system introduced by the Germans between 1940 and 1942 reveals that 56.000 Jews had been headcounted. There were probably more. A fair estimate would be between 60.000 and 70.000.

The children Davidson before the war (© JMDR)

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The Origins

Only 6% of the Jews living in Belgium had the Belgian nationality. The rest were foreigners who had arrived here over the years from East Europe.

• The first wave of Jews arrived at the end of the 19th century fleeing from the pogroms of tsarist Russia.

• The second large influx of immigrants came from Poland, where, after WW I, an extreme nationalistic and anti-Semetic climate prevailed.

• A third group of Jewish refugees arrived when the Nazis came to power in Germany, Austria, Hungary, …

 

In Eastern Europe they often left behind thriving communities with their own unique culture and their own language; Yiddish. Most of  refugees dreamed of  emigrating to the U.S.A.
However the lack of sufficient financial means often meant than many people became stranded in Belgium where they endeavoured to start a new life.

The Jewish quarter in Warschau,
1938 (© VISHNIAC)

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The Situation 

The Jewish community in Belgium consisted of a highly diversified group of  people. Apart from a small number of wealthy families most of the Jewish immigrants were poor or very poor. They worked in industry and in small businesses especially as furriers, leather workers, and the diamond and textile industry in general. 80% of the Jews lived in the conurbations of Antwerp and Brussels.

Those Jews who became politically active were found in the complete spectrum of political parties. Some formed their own sports and social clubs, youth groups and schools whilst others affiliated themselves with existing institutions.

At this time only a small minority of the Jews were religiously orthodox. They were easily recognisable. The men wore black clothes and a kippa, had beards and earlocks. The majority were, however more liberal and were sartorially similar to their Christian fellow countrymen. There were also agnostic Jews whose only jewishness was a shared culture – an identity – a people.

 

JASK (Joodse Arbeiders Sportklub) during
a contest in Antwerp, 1936

 

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